i (heart) newtown

Well, it's been a while! Life has been super busy with moving house, lots to do at work, and a trip to Australia for a beautiful wedding in the Hunter Valley.

While we were in the Hunter Valley we visited a cute little cafe in the Hunter Valley Gardens, and I just loved their table numbers!

Also, at one of the wineries, I managed to catch this gaggle of geese waddling their way up the hill the the lake, too cute:

Everything was looking so lush and amazing in the Hunter Valley, probably a lot to do with all the rain they had been having! At the wedding the ground was a bit soft, and I knew my stiletto platforms were not ideal, but wedges were jsut not going to cut it with my outfit... then I found these!

They are called Starlettos and you can just pull them on and off your heels, they even come with a little pouch to put them in between uses so you can put them in your bag without getting everything else muddy. Genius!! And they totally work. Website= www.starlettos.com.au

We also visited Sydney. We did all the touristy stuff- Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Zoo, Bondi... but my fave place hands down was Newtown. My god, if I were allowed to take two suitcases on the plane, my bank account would have been in A LOT of trouble!! Second hand shops as far as the eye can see!! Clothes, junk, furniture... a little slice of heaven!! Got a few shots to savour:

Cool little clothing and record shop in the middle of the burbs:

There was even a shop dedicated just to buttons- eeee!!

Also, there was an awesome shop called Monster Threads- rad clothes, cool knick knacks, and a bit of my fave Jim Bob Art too! Website= www.monsterthreads.com.au

On our walk home I came across this street sign, just adored the name and the look if it:

Anyhoo, a good trip all round. Nice way to ease into summer hols! Now roll on Christmas and New Years :)

nana

I have been thinking about my late Nana recently. She was a gem, so witty and funny and had the most comprehensive general knowledge of anyone I have ever met! She loved crosswords and birdwatching and dolls houses. I think that's where I get my miniatures obsession from.
She passed away April 27 2007. I have found that as time goes by, I realise how many similarities we had, and I wish that she was around so that we could share them.
I have found myself getting more and more into the doll house thing. My Poppa made me an elaborate doll house when I was younger. I of course used it as a toy, as you should as a child, but I have still got it sorted in my Gran’s garage. I am going to get it out and restore it back to its full glory. I am really looking forward to this. But I do wish that Nana was still around to share the process with me, because I know that she would be right into it.
Anyway, I have been looking into decor for my doll house, and here are some cool little pieces that I have my eye on:

The last pic reminds me of the kind of toiletry set that Nana would have owned in real life. The rest is stuff that I would actually buy for my own house in full size.
Love, love, love!!

cassette super markets

So, my stuff won me a stall at Cassette Super Markets (every Sat 12 - 5, Vulcan Lane, Auckland). I was informed of the win on Wednesday. I was pleasantly surprised, but I had a wee worry that perhaps I didn't actually have enough stuff for a stall- so Wednesday, Thursday and Friday after work were spent putting together some more pieces! I ran out of black paint, and when I went down to Ikes to buy some more, they had run out of the matte black that I usually use. Frig. But they had some glossy acrylic, so I figured that was better than nothing. The glossy was all good and made a nice change, but I think next time I will go back to the matte simply because I find it more user friendly. Will stock up next time they get it in! Anyhoo, here is what I made:

I also made a Halloween themed canvas, since the markets were Halloween themed:

 And I made a sign, but it turned out there wasn't room for it- will find a place for it next time:

And here are some pics from the market- such a cool place, good vibe, lovely people. Will totally be going back again!

i (heart) wellington

Just got back from not-so-windy Wellington. The wind gods (Tawhiri, Aeolus, Vayu... whoever you believe in!) were kind to me for the flying. Not much turbulence= not too many freak outs!
Such a lovely weekend with the 'in-laws' (since Hamish and I aren't actually married). Oscar, the nephew, 3, is friggin hilarious; and Molly, our niece whose first birthday was the reason for the trip, is just the cutest little baby EVER! So cuddly and smiley, I could just eat her up :)
As mentioned in my last post, I made them a wee canvas each- they were grabbed, dropped and chewed and still stayed together, so a big tick on the durability front too- sweet! Here are piccies of them:

I also made Molly a couple of headbands using the leftover gold buttons I had brought for Oscars canvas:

I found a primo op shop in Strathmore, real proper. Left with a bag of goodies, my favourite buy being this sweet-as-pie Florida themed skirt:

Made a quick visit to Area 51 on Cuba St too- stocked with AWESOME stuff as always- had my eye on an incredible 'axe' ring by Stolen Girlfriends Club (see it here- http://www.stolengirlfriendsclub.com/main.html ), and fell in love with this Lonely Hearts dress, am going to hunt one down in Auckland a.s.a.p!

I just love Wellington. The people watching is so good- everyone’s style seems to be some kind of wicked-cool. I wish I had my camera on me, I saw a girl in a lust-worthy outfit of a matte gold lace bodysuit, black high-waisted velvet skirt, and awesome tan boots and red lippy to finish. She was blonde and had a gold kind of skin tone so you would think the top would just fade away but it just really worked. Sigh. Style crush BIG TIME.
Anyhoo, I trust everyone had a fab long weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
Bring on summer xox

how to add photos for dummies

Ok, like I said, going in blind...just figured out how you add photos. So here they are. (I'm keeping the two I made for my niece and nephew secret until after I see them). Enjoy!

all blogged up and nowhere to go

So, here I am. Blogging. I'll be honest and say that I haven't read a whole lot of blogs, so I'm kind of going into this blind. But here goes.
I've been working on these little canvases.
I've just made a couple of cute ones for my niece and nephew. We are going down to see them next weekend. Yay! Really looking forward to it! Except perhaps the plane ride down to Welly. I'm not a massive flying fan.
So yeah, here it is- my first blog. I'm sure there's plenty of stuff missing. I really have no idea where I'm going with all this, but I shall to keep playing and hopefully it will all be looking out of this world in no time...

... [some time later] now that I have worked out how to add photos, here are some Things That I Like: